This invention relates to an improvement in apparatus and method for continuous metal casting according to the so-called "dip-forming process" of metal casting. The dip-forming system for the continuous casting of metal comprises supplying a body of molten metal and passing a metal core member through the molten metal and thereby accreting and solidifying molten metal on the core member.
The dip-forming process of continuously casting by moving a core member through a body of molten metal, and apparatus therefor, are the subjects of many prior U.S. patents, including:
______________________________________ 3,008,201 3,094,752 3,510,345 3,060,053 3,235,960 3,538,884 3,060,054 3,424,130 3,598,085 3,060,055 3,466,186 3,610,204 3,060,056 3,484,280 3,709,722 3,813,260 ______________________________________
The disclosures of these U.S. patents are incorporated herein by reference.
The dip-forming process of continuously casting as heretofore practiced and provided for by the prior art apparatus and method of U.S. Pat. Nos 3,466,186 and 3,598,085 was found in some instances to produce a poor quality cast rod product. The deficiency incurred in such instances was a cast rod product having a rough and irregular surface comprising a high concentration of protrusions or bumps and depressions or hollows, and/or a porous consistency, rendering it unsuitable for certain uses such as the drawing of fine wire.
This method of casting is especially effective in the production of copper-containing rod for use in the manufacture of electrical conductors by passing a copper-containing core member through a melt containing copper.